Li Ming and the others repeatedly said they dared not. The biggest taboo in business was meeting with officials, especially for those of them whose backgrounds were unclear, who were even more afraid of being caught. The magistrate had only said a word to destroy their families, and they couldn't force their way through him.
Only after walking out of the county government office did Li Ming feel like he was alive again. Liu Si whispered, "Brother Li, what did the magistrate ask us to sign?"
"That son of a bitch." Li Ming cursed, looked around, and when he was sure there was no one around, he whispered, "He told us to go get the hides from the Jiannu and buy them at 10% of the price."
"What?" Liu Si almost fainted and shouted, "We already made very little profit including principal and interest. 10% is leaving us broke."
"Brother, let's just run away and not go to Muhe County to do business." Mei Zuo had already given up. Not only was he not making any money, but he was also being threatened. Seeing that life was getting increasingly difficult, he might as well run away early.
Li Ming said angrily, "Where can you run to, idiot? Isn't it safer to stay in Muhe than in Jiannu? Here you can at least have a bowl of soup to drink, but if we were in the hands of the Jiannu masters, we would only be slaves. It would be better to follow the dog magistrate."
"Then why are you so angry, brother? Let's find a doctor to take a good look at Zhang San, so as not to hurt him."
As he was speaking, Liu Si bumped into a wall of flesh and cursed, "You son of a bitch, you walk without looking."
"Open your dog eyes and take a closer look. Who am I, young master?"
Liu Si looked up and saw Luo Ying in casual clothes. He was so frightened that he immediately knelt down. "General Luo, please spare me! General Luo, please spare me!"
"You just said you wanted to do business with the county magistrate. What kind of business?" Luo Ying asked.
"This..." Liu Sixiang was about to say something, but Li Ming, who had rushed over, covered his mouth. Li Ming, feeling uneasy, said cautiously, "I can't say anything."
Before he could finish his words, a silver light flashed, and a sword was placed on Li Ming's neck. Li Ming was so frightened that he almost fainted on the spot. "Speak or not?"
"Little one, little one..." Li Ming's eyes were filled with tears, and he looked embarrassed. "General Luo, please don't embarrass me. If there is anything you don't understand, please ask Lord Jiang. I can't stand your intimidation."
Luo Ying was about to explode when a few Jiannu people dared to show him disdain, but then he thought: what they were discussing was probably related to Jiang Xuqing, and he just wanted to discuss something with Jiang Xuqing.
Killing people in the street was not appropriate. Luo Ying retracted his sword and said, "Go away."
"Okay, let's get out of here, let's get out of here." Several people ran away, even forgetting the injured Zhang San.
Zhang San complained bitterly, but he didn't dare to curse in front of Luo Ying, so he had to pretend to be invisible.
Fortunately, Luo Ying didn't take the injured Zhang San seriously and just walked away. Zhang San breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to run away.
Luo Ying was a frequent visitor to the county government office. After several yamen runners saluted him, Luo Ying asked, "Where is Lord Jiang?"
"My lord, we are in the inner hall."
Luo Ying responded and ran straight to the inner hall, bumping into Bai Shinian head-on. Bai Shinian had no time to complain before he ran into a plague god. Furious, he said sarcastically, "What wind brought General Luo here?"
Bai Shinian, a "seventh-rank official" in front of the "Prime Minister", had never treated Luo Ying well. Luo Ying did not take small people seriously. After all, punishing him would be like slapping Jiang Xuqing in the face. He did not need to tear his face with Jiang Xuqing at this stage. He was concerned about where Jiang Xuqing had gone. "Where is your master?"
"I'm working in the study."
"Go and tell them that Luo Ying wants to see him."
Bai Shinian didn't dare to neglect this Buddha. He rubbed his sore arm and went to the inner room. "Master, Master, General Luo is here."
Xu Jing raised an eyebrow and put down his pen. "Please invite General Luo to the lobby and have a seat. Serve tea."
Bai Shinian's brows knitted together, completely bewildered. In the past, the master had never been kind to General Luo, so what was going on now? Had he taken the wrong medicine?
"Hurry up and go," Xu Jing urged, and Bai Shinian didn't dare disobey. He immediately acted like a lackey and told Luo Ying to wait in the lobby, while he acted as a supervisor and supervised the tea service.
Xu Jing smiled as he spotted Luo Ying pacing in the reception room and quickly bowed and greeted her. "General Luo, it is truly an honor for me to be able to see you. Please take a seat."
"Master Jiang's words are as smooth as ever." Luo Ying despised the flattery of civil servants, but due to the social connections in the officialdom, he had to endure it. As soon as he sat down, he said, "Master Jiang, congratulations."
Xu Jing was a little puzzled. "Where does your happiness come from?"
Just then, the servants came to serve tea. Xu Jing instructed them to serve Luo Ying first. After Luo Ying drank it, he heard him say, "Master Jiang is going to be promoted."
"General Luo, please don't talk nonsense. The imperial eunuchs haven't received any official orders yet, so how can we talk about promotions? General Luo, you are really joking."
Luo Ying said, "I never joke. I have a better network than Lord Jiang. I've received news from higher-ups that Lord Jiang will soon be promoted to prefect. This is truly cause for celebration."
The message revealed between the lines shocked Xu Jing.
I've never seen someone jump ranks like this. Jiang Xuqing was only a seventh-rank official, and even if he was highly regarded by his superiors, it was impossible for him to jump two ranks at once. Could something have happened in the capital?
"There are specific rules for promotion. Where do you go?"
Xu Jing's first thought was to transfer him elsewhere. There were only two possible outcomes: one was that the court would become wary of him and want to transfer him to someone less troublesome. This argument was obviously untenable; no one was willing to travel to the bitter cold of the Northeast to survive. If they were willing to come, they wouldn't have chosen a scholar from the neighboring county as the county magistrate, and Jin Zhubu wouldn't have waited until his hair turned gray to retire. Therefore, the fear argument was invalid.
Second, Xu Jing's actions had angered the upper echelons, leading them to transfer him elsewhere and dispatch others to counter Luo Ying's faction. After all, the civil and military powers were not in conflict, and Jiang Xuqing's family ultimately offered him no advantage. The imperial court would have been satisfied if someone from a century-old family had been transferred to confront Luo Ying, effectively keeping the civil and military powers in check. But what noble family would send their pampered young master to the Northeast to endure adversity? This argument clearly didn't hold water.
He would have to be promoted where he was. Firstly, his promotion to the rank of Fifth-Rank Prefect would counterbalance Luo Ying's Fifth-Rank Guerrilla General, even subtly suppressing him and making him more compliant with the civil officials' orders. Secondly, the imperial court simply couldn't commit personnel to rectify military affairs in the Northeast, and Muhe, a crucial territory for containing the Jiannu, had to be abandoned. Therefore, Muhe could only be promoted to a prefecture and he would be placed in charge to delay the Jiannu's attack on the people of Dayan.
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